The Korean Language Program at RUB was founded by Professor Dr. Bruno Lewin in 1965. Professor Dr. Werner Sasse, who had worked as a research and teaching assistant (Wissenschaftlicher Mitarbeiter) in charge of the Korean Studies Program from 1975 to 1988, was appointed chair of the Department of Korean Studies in 1988. From 1999 on, Professor Dr. Marion Eggert has served as department chair.
The erstwhile linguistic orientation of the Department of Korean Studies at RUB was complemented by a more cultural studies-oriented focus on literature, history and intellectual history since 1999. The diversity in teaching and research available at Bochum has, on the one hand, helped to draw more students and graduates and, on the other hand, fostered various research cooperations within and beyond the university. Student numbers have now risen to a degree that a numerus clausus (a restriction of student numbers in accordance with teaching capacities) has been introduced in 2022.
A degree in Korean Studies opens up a wide range of chances on the job market. As economic globalization has proved to be definitely not synonymous with a diminishing or blurring of cultural differences, intercultural competencies as well as proficiency in foreign languages are increasingly sought after by employers of every kind.
Besides mastering modern Korean, M.A. graduates of Korean Studies usually own at least passive knowledge of a second East Asian language and in addition are well trained in understanding, summarizing and producing textual materials in various languages. Thus, they are ideally prepared for a great variety of tasks in business, diplomacy, media and other areas. They are of course also apt to find employment in fields of occupation common to graduates of the humanities like museums, academic and cultural institutions, libraries, publishing houses, etc.
The Korean Studies programs at Ruhr-University Bochum aim at preparing graduates for this open job market by stressing interdisciplinary methodology and the ability to understand and explain Korean subject matters within an East Asian frame of reference.
Concerning future employment chances, Bochum's double-major B.A. programs offer certain advantages. When choosing a second major next to Korean Studies, career aims should be taken into consideration. In a purely academic framework, useful impulses result especially from philological and historical subjects (including Chinese and Japanese Studies). Our student counseling service will be happy to offer advice.
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Last update: Feb 19, 2024
